Obstetrical sheet.



s. PALKNER. OBSTBTRIGAL SHEET.

APPLIGATIO FILED AUG. 23, 1902. N0 MODEL.

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mUn'TTnp STATES PATENT OFFICE.

SARAH FAULKNER, OF NEW YORK, N. Y.

OBSTETRICAL SHEET.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 719,206, dated January 27, 1903. Application led August 28,1902. Serial No. 120,757. (No specimens.)

To LZ whom, it nul/y concern.-

Beit known that LSARAH FAULKNnR,a citi- Zen of the United States, and aresident of the city of New York, borough of Brooklyn, in the county of Kings and State of New York, have invented a new and Improved Obstetrical Sheet, of which the following is a full, clear, and exact description.

My invention relates to an obstetrical sheet; and the purpose of the invention is to provide a pad of two or more, preferably six, sections or 1n embers placed one upon the other and so attached that a soiled section or member may be quickly and readily removed, eX- posing a lower and clean section or member, and to so construct the several sections or members that they will be comfortable to lie upon and will be of an absorbent nature with protective covering, which will prevent one section or member soiling another or any section or member from soiling the bedding.

The invention consists in the novel construction and combination of the several parts, as will be hereinafter fully set forth, and pointed out in the claims.

Reference is to be had to the accompanying drawings, forming apart of this specification, in which similar characters of reference indicate corresponding parts in all the igures.

Figure 1 isa plan view of the device, a portion of the upper section or member being broken away. Fig. 2 is a side elevation of the complete sheet, showing the manner in which the sections or members thereof are fastened together; and Fig. 3 is a transverse section through the lowest member or section of the sheet and an upper section or membeigrthe section-line being drawn as indicated at 3 3 in Fig. 1.

The sections or members A of the sheet may be of any desired size, and they are preterably rectangular, as illustrated, and are of the same dimensions and general outline. The sections or members A of the sheet are adapted to lie closely one upon the'other, and adjacent to opposing margins of each section or member A of the sheet a series of eyeleted apertures 10 is produced. At the center of each member or section Aof the sheetadjacent to the margin other eyeleted apertures 10 are also produced, as is shown in Fig. 1, so that the several members or sections A may be secured together by means of tapes or ribbons 11, passed through alining apertures 10, which ribbons or tapes 11 are suitably tied, as is shown in Fig. 1. Thus by untying the tapes or ribbons 1l an upper soiled section or member A may be quickly and conveniently removed to expose a lower and clean section or member without unduly eX- posing or interfering with the comfort ot' the patient.

` Each member or section A of the sheet consists of a bottom strip 12, of a waterproof paper, upon which strip 12 a suitable bed 13, of cotton, is placed, and upon this bed of cotton 13 an upper and thicker strip of waterproof paper 14 is located, resting directly on the cotton bed, and where the eyeleted openings 10 are produced in a member or section A upper and lower reinforcing-strips 15 are laid, the said reinforcing-strips 15 being also preferably of a waterproof paper. Upon the upper surface of each upperstrip of paper 14 a cheese-cloth or like covering 17`is located, which also covers the upper reinforcing-strips 15. This upper cheese-cloth covering 17 is carried down along the margins of the members or sections A and across the marginal reinforcing-strips 15, as is shown in Fig. 3; but in the construction of the lowest member or section A the upper cheese-cloth covering 17 is carried across the entire bottom surface of the said bottom section or member, as is shown at 18 in Fig. 3.

The various layers constituting a section or member A are secured together by means of stitching 19, which lines of stitching extend through the sections or members A where the reinforcing-strips 15 are located. The stitching is not relied upon for securing the cheese-cloth to the paper, as the cheesecloth is attached 4directly to the paper by paste or cement of any kind.

It will be observed that a sheet constructed as above described may be conveniently adapted to the patient, and as one member is soiled it can be readily removed without unnecessarily disturbing the patient and that the bedding will be kept clean and dry. Each section or member A after having been used is intended to be destroyed.

The object in making each sheet-section with an absorbent layer between waterproof IOO layers of paper is to retard the passage of iuids through the same. If only an absorbent layer were used, a profuse discharge of iuids would quickly saturate one layer and pass into and soil the next or the bedding. The waterproof layers prevent such passage of duids from one absorbent layer to the next; but still as the waterproof layers are liable to become creased and leaky from the handling and from the weight and movements of the patient the absorbent layer between takes up and holds such fluids as leak through, and thus preserves the cleanly condition ofthe next subjacent sheet-sections or the bedding. The covering of cheese-cloth or fabric is to give greater tenacity to the waterproof layers and to cover and protect the edges of the sheet-sections.

I arn aware that mattresses have been made up of sections each of which was the full thickness of the mattress and connected together by tie-tapes, and I am also aware that a blanket has been composed of layers of woven fabric with a paper sheet incorporated between the same for warmth and the whole detachably fastened together, and I make no claim to any such constructions.

Having thus described my invention, I

claim as new and desire to secure by Lettersl Patentl. Asheet-section for surgical uses consisting of an absorbent layer, faced on both sides with waterproof paper and an outer layer of tenacious fabric substantially as and for the purpose described.

2. A sheet-section for surgical uses, consisting of an absorbent layer faced on both sides with waterproof paper, reinforcing-strips extending across the section, an outer layer of tenacious fabric extending across the section and over its edges and lines of stitching passing through the layer of fabric, the reinforcing-strips, and the absorbent and waterproof layers, substantially as and for the purpose described.

3. An obstetrical sheet, consisting of a series of members or sections adapted to be laid one upon the other, each member or section of the sheet consisting of a lower layer of a Waterproof material, a layer of absorbent material and an upper layer of `Waterproof material, the various layers being secured together, as described.

4. An obstetrical sheet consisting of a series of members or sections laid one upon the other, and having eyeleted apertures and tapes or ribbons passed through the same to secure the various members or sections in stacked position, each section or member consisting of a lower layer of waterproof paper, a layer of absorbent material, an upper layer of waterproof paper, and a covering for the paper, of a loosely-woven cloth, as described.

5. An obstetrical sheet, consisting of a series of members or sections laid one upon the other, and having eyeleted apertures and tapes or ribbons passed through the same to secure the various members or sections in stacked position, each section or member consisting of a lower layer of waterproof paper, a layer of absorbent material, an upper layer of waterproof paper, a covering for said paper, of a loosely-woven cloth, and reinforcing-strips located at the top and bottom of each member or section where the eyeleted apertures occur, as and for the purpose described.

In testimony whereof I have signed my name to this specification in the presence of two subscribing witnesses.

SARAH FAULKNER.

Witnesses:

FRANK A. MITCHELL, CHARLOTTE D. FAULKNER. 

